Dave Hyde: What did anyone at the Dolphins know — and why not?

This is what you saw Monday from the ugliest chapter in Dolphins history: You saw coach Joe Philbin stand before a hundred members of the media and offer a timeline for why he wasn't to blame for what the NFL was called in to investigate.

You saw Philbin say he talked on the phone and in person with departed tackle Jonathan Martin and his family this past week and heard nothing about the vile comments sent to him by guard Richie Incognito that became public Monday.

You saw Philbin point beyond the football fields to University School, where his children attend, and say he expected a safe environment for them, "just like I expect our players to have a safe environment."

You see this all the time when scandals break, the person in charge explaining how he did everything possible to prevent it.

And maybe Philbin did. Maybe everyone involved with the Dolphins' leadership did their best, too.

But all that does is explain why the biggest game for the Dolphins, even when the schedule says Tampa is up next, becomes whether the coach and general manager hold onto their jobs when this dust settles.

If they can't assemble and control a team better than this, then it's time to find people who can. This toxic mess didn't happen because of one missed conversation or one bad week. It happened, over time, as checks and balances disappeared.

"We always had strong leaders in the locker room who told the coaches what problems needed handling,'' former New York Giants quarterback and CBS announcer Phil Simms said.

But all six veteran Dolphins players on last year's leadership council (which acts as a conduit between the players and coach) were let go in the offseason.

Did Philbin talk extra with Incognito? Or Martin? Those are two simple questions that Philbin wasn't answering Monday, as he said the NFL investigation will cover everything.

There are other questions needing answers: Did the other offensive linemen see it? Did they tacitly or openly approve? Did anyone else know there was a problem here? And why didn't the 6-foot-5, 320-pound Martin stand up for himself?

That's just it, there are more questions than answers right now, and a walk through the Dolphins' locker room had all six players asked deliver only good thoughts about Incognito.

"He's a great teammate," receiver Mike Wallace said.

It's a strange environment, the NFL locker room. Incognito, as any reporter will say, was funny and insightful.

But he went so far over the line you can't see the line anymore when in a message he called Martin a, "half-n-----" and threatened to, "slap your real mother across the face."

That led to his suspension. And he won't be back as a Dolphin again, a source and published reports said. But it's the bigger-picture issue for the Dolphins franchise that remains uglier.

Philbin and the rest of the Dolphins were so blindsided by the release of this comment that its timeline of their public statements on Sunday are self-incriminating:

At 8:53 a.m., "The notion of bullying is based on speculation and has not been presented to us as a concern from Jonathan or anyone else internally."

At 5:01 p.m., "We received notification today from Jonathan's representations about allegations of player misconduct."

At 11:37 p.m., "The Miami Dolphins have suspended Richie Incognito for conduct detrimental to the team."

On Monday night, a source said Monday's toxic news cycle for the Dolphins will seem, "like kindergarten," if other details become public.

Even in their last decade of high embarrassment, the Dolphins never have been part of a story this embarrassing. Player-on-player hate? And the team didn't know?

Philbin took some questions on Monday, but none of them were about how the Dolphins can replace two starting offensive linemen.

Football wasn't Monday's topic. Bullying, the locker room culture and questions of whether anyone is in charge of this team were.